FREEDOMS 5/3/2022 Hot Free People 2022

FREEDOMS 5/3/2022 Hot Free People 2022

Dragon Libre, Leo Isaka, Rekka & Takahiro Katori vs. Sho-ki, Van Vert Jack, Van Vert Negro & Yousei Estrella

This was a 7 minute sprint. They didn't do intros for Van Vert Jack's team so it was hard to know who was who. They kept the pace fast here and we had a few dives here. It was about what it needed to be to get people warmed up. Even though it seemed like it wa ssupposed to put Dragon Libre over here, Libre ended up having some sloppy moments which hurt that. Libre ended up getting the win here. 

UWA World Junior Heavyweight Title Match - Tatsuhito Takaiwa (c) vs. Kengo

They shake hands and Takaiwa chest slaps him off a break against the ropes. They trade forearms and Takaiwa lariats him. They then go outside and Kengo is thrown into the rails. Takaiwa headscissors him then hits a slam. He then single leg crabs him but Kengo ropebreaks. They trade forearms and Takaiwa headbutts him after a slap.

Kengo trips Takaiwa into the middle rope and dropkicks him. Kengo suplexes him then Takaiwa comes back with a stiff lariat. Takaiwa then superplexes him and Kengo hits a top rope frankensteiner on him. Kengo hits a 2nd rope double stomp for 2 then Takaiwa brainbusters him. Takiwa flips him with a lariat then hits a death valley driver for 2.

Kengo hits some backdrops then went for a top rope splash but Takaiwa got his knees up. Takaiwa then hit a driver and a lariat on him for 2. Takaiwa death valley drivers him for 2. Kengo reverses his suplex attempt and gives him one of his own then dropkicks him. They trade forearms then Kengo hits a dropkick and a brainbuster on Takaiwa for 2. Kengo then hits a top rope splash for another 2. Kengo top rope splashes his back and his chest to win.

This went too long. I didn't like some of the kickouts at the end but at least the match structure made some sense. It was probably the closest thing that actuallly resembled a straight wrestling match on this show.

Junkyard Tornado Tag Team Death Match - Rina Yamashita & Takashi Sasaki vs ERE (Kyu Mogami & Takayuki Ueki)

We have a bunch of random weapons here.

Kyu and Rina fight with keyboards early and Ueki hits Sasaki with one. Kyu and Ueki try to double team Rina but Rina ducks and the partners nail each other. Rina gets put on a kids vehicle and Sasaki pushes her into their opponents. Kyu hits Sasaki with a golf club then swings the cutter into a chair on Sasaki's crotch.

Ueki throws weapons at Rina including an actual clothes line. Ueki kicks Rina in the crotch and is slapped for it then Ueki slams her. Ueki airplane spins Rina then his partner kicks him in the gut and slams him on Rina. Kyu hits Rina with a cookie sheet then Rina grabs both opponents by the crotch. Rina then lariats both over. Sasaki gets a kendo stick and hits both opponents with it.

Sasaki leg lariats Ueki then rubs a paint roller up and down him. Sasaki puts a rice cooker on Ueki's head and hits the inside pot with a plastic bat. Ueki then gets ddt'd with the pot on his head. Ueki uses it against Sasaki though as a battering ram and falling headbutts him.

Kyu and Rina trade shots and Kyu gets a german suplex. Kyu fisherman suplexes her then sit out spinebusters her on chairs for 2. Sasaki superplexes Kyu on chairs put on their sides. Rina then top rope splashes a chair onto Kyu for 2. Sasaki gets a guitar and kicks it into Kyu then Kyu is slammed on a pile of chairs and the guitar for the Sasaki/Rina win.

Pretty much all hardcore stuff here. It was basically a WWF Attitude Era hardcore match and wasn't very special. They didn't really play up the gender differences and they had Kyu and Ueki beating up each other which I didn't like.

Barbed Wire Board & Gadget Board Alpha Mask Vs. Paint Death Match - Violento Jack vs Kenji Fukimoto

Jack is attacked during his entrance and ddt'd. Jack then throws Kenji into a board with razor blades on it. Kenji rolls out and Jack tope con hilos him. Jack then slams Kenji with a chair on Kenji's back. Kenji reverses an irish whip and sends Jack into a barbed wire board. Kenji then hits the board with a chair. and pounds a gusset plate into Jack's arm.

Jack hits a gamengiri and Kenji rolls out. Jack goes for another dive but Kenji blocks it with a weapons shot. Kenji then grabs a fishing pole and hooks Jack with it. He reels him in some and pulls on the hook. Jack takes it out and 2nd rope suplexes him onto a barbed wire board but Jack holds on and suplexes him onto it after.

Jack gorilla press gutbusters him and grabs a board with tin can lids. Jack hits a tiger driver variation on Kenji on it. Jack goes for a 2nd rope swanton on a razorblade board on Kenji but Kenji flips the board and it goes into Jack's back. Kenji then package piledrivers him for 2 but Jack comes back and schwein's him on the razorblade board. Jack then hits an electric chair drop on Kenji for 2.

Jack wraps himself in barbed wire and top rope splashes Kenji for 1. Jack then package piledrivers him for 2. Kenji then powerbombs Jack on a piece of the razorblade board for 2. and lariats Jack. Kenji goes for the pin but Jack octopus stretches him on the mat with the barbed wire. Jack puts a gusset plate in Kenji's head then package piledrivers him for the win.

This wasn't too good. There was nothing here but weapons stuff with little selling or flow.

Shuji Ishikawa vs Tomoya Hirata

They shoulder battle early and Hirata gets knocked over. Shuji gets on the apron and the two trade forearms. Shuji gets knocked off the apron then tope'd. They trade forearms outside then Shuji drops him with forearms inside.  Hirata takes more forearms and goes down again. Hirata tries to come back with a chest club but is slapped and goes down.

Toru sleepers him and Hirata rolls out. Hirata hits a bunch of chest clubs then takes two nasty elbows. Shuji kicks him in the ribs and knees him hard. Toru goes down for a while and tries more chest clubs but Shuji just pushes him over. He hits short headbutt flurry then shuji his splash mountain for the win. Hirata was busted open during the headbutt flurry.

This was a total squash. Japan loves to do these things and while it can be effective sometimes, this just made Hirata look like a total loser when he should be an up and coming star.

Beauty Murder & Safety Pinboard Alpha Rated-R Death Match - Jun Kasai vs. Toshiyuki Sakuda

They trade forearms and Sakuda flips and cartwheels to avoid a chair, which he ends up getting anyway. Jun gets thrown into a safety pin board then Sakuda presses his face in it with his foot. Sakuda then starts sticking the pins in his head then standing moonsaults him for 2.

Jun comes back and slahims through the safety pin board which is bridged over chairs. Jun drops him face first on a metal gate in the corner then lariats him for 2. Jun the ngets his head rammed into a razorboard then has a chair thrown at him. They fight on the apron then Jun takes a half-nelson pumphandle driver off the apron through bridged chairs on the floor. Sakuda then springboards off the top rope onto chairs on Jun on the floor.

Sakuda then puts needles through Jun's cheek and 619's him on the ropes for 2. Sakuda then delay germans him for 2. Sakuda goes for a hurricanrana up top but is blocked and then powerbombed through a wooden board/chair. Sakuda has a needle put through his cheek then Jun spins him around with it and sit out tiger drivers him for 2.

They both get on the metal gate/board in the corner. Sakuda tries to stick a needle in Jun's head then hits a shiranui off it. Sakuda then puts a chair on his back and swantons Kasai from the top, while Kasai has chairs on him. Sakuda then misses a swanton with a razoboard on his back and crucifixes Jun for 2. He then hits a half-nelson pumphandler driver on Jun for 2.

Jun sticks skewer sticks in Sakuda's head. They go up top to the metal gate and Jun flipping tiger drivers him through a board with forks on it. Jun then sitout tiger drivers him for 2 then top rope splashes him for 2. Jun then straight jacket piledrivers him and wins it.

The two give each other the finger after.

They got out of hand at the end with the kickouts on the big moves. Again, this one was hurt by the lack of crowd noise. There wasn't much wrestling here and mostly hardcore stuff.

King Of FREEDOM World Title No Canvas, Double Chimera Board & Blood Weapons Death Match - Daisuke Masaoka (c) vs. Toru Sugiura

We have a whole mess of toys here for this one. The ring looks like a warzone. Not too much happens early then Toru gets slammed onto the wood mat. Toru then gets his head pushed into a barbed wire board and starts to bleed. DM drops double knees on him from the 2nd rope then Toru comes back and michinoku drivers him. DM takes a trash lid shot then has a gusset plate put in his head then is suplexed.

Toru tries to him with a massive mallet and ends up headbutting it into his head (which I don't get how that works). They trade forearms and headbutts and DM gets his head banged off the wooden apron. Toru then takes a schwein on the apron then DM asai moonsaults him. They go back in and Toru takes a schwein through a barbed wire board. The board then gets put on him and DM knee dorps it.

Toru hits some forearms on him then takes a backdrop. He no sells it and they trade forearms for a superkick. They trade forearms on their knees and continue as they get up. DM then takes a german suplex for 2.  Toru goes for a move off his shoulders but takes a poisonrana.

They remove some of the planks of wood on the canvas and a barbed wire board with cut off cans gets put down. DM takes an electric chair drop through the board where the planks were removed. Toru then drivers him and forearms him for 2. DM rolling casadora's him from the top then fire thunder drivers him for 2. Toru stops selling and hits forearms.

DM hits some headbutts then fire thunders him again for 2. DM hits a top rope meteora then top rope moonsaults a board on him for the win.

This went 27:58. It was in front of a crowd that couldn't cheer which hurt it and it went longer than it needed to. It wasn't as much of a weapons fest as other matches, but I didn't think it was a great match regardless. The pace was pretty slow from the beginning and they didn't sell much at all by the end.

Overall thoughts: If you like Freedom's usual offerings, you will probably like this one. They did put out a good card here with some big matches. The matches were flawed though without much selling, too many kickouts and them being hardcore matches first and wrestling matches second...or sometimes even third.